We are pleased to announce the 2025 Blossomland Amateur Radio Association and Midwest Classic Radio Net KI8BQ Memorial Trunk Swap is a go!

ARRL News

08 January 2026

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the national association for amateur radio, connecting hams around the U.S. with news, information and resources.

• Richard Dean Straw, N6BV, ARRL “Antenna Expert,” Silent Key

  by Mark Derks, KC1RVQ, ARRL Headquarters Staff

  Richard Dean Straw (“Dean”), N6BV, died on July 9, 2025. Amateur radio was one of his passions.

  Dean retired from the staff of ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® in 2008 following 15 years of service as the Senior Assistant Technical Editor.

  ***

  In 2006, the World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC) was held in Florianópolis, Brazil, a co...

• ARRL Awards Colvin Grant to Bouvet DXpedition

  ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® has awarded a $5,000 Colvin Award grant to the Delta-Xray Group, organizers of the upcoming 3YØK DXpedition to Bouvet Island, scheduled for February and March, 2026. Bouvet is a remote island in the Southern Ocean, populated only by seals and penguins, and known for treacherous weather and surf conditions. It is a territory of Norway and nearly a...

• 2026 is ARRL’s Year of the Club -- A Celebration of Amateur Radio Clubs
• New ARRL Section Managers Take Office in January

  ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® annouces four new Section Managers taking on the top volunteer leadership role in the ARRL Field Organization on January 1, 2026. 

  Bret Stemen, KD8SCL, has been appointed as the Ohio Section Manager to finish the term that will end September 30, 2026. Stemen, of Pataskala, has recently served as the Section Emergency Coordinator. He is taking the...

• The ARRL Solar Update

  The January 2, 2026, report from Spaceweather.com has updated
  details about the Coronal Mass Ejections predicted to hit the Earth
  on January 3 and 4.
  
  Solar wind parameters are expected to be disturbed through January
  4, 2026, due to a combination of Coronal Hole High Speed Stream and
  Coronal Mass Ejection activity. There is the potential for glancing
  influences late into January 3 from CMEs that left...

• ARRL Headquarters Closing for Christmas Holiday 2025

  ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® will close our headquarters early at 12 PM Eastern Standard Time (1700 UTC) on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, and will be closed all day on Thursday and Friday, December 25 - 26 for the Christmas holiday. ARRL will also be closed on Thursday, January 1, 2026, for New Year's Day.

  There will be no W1AW transmissions during the holiday closures. The A...

• The ARRL Solar Update

  Solar activity has been at low levels with only a few C1 flares from
  Region 4307. Slight growth and consolidation were observed in that
  region as it neared the southwestern limb. Slight decay and
  separation were observed in Region 4311. The rest of the spotted
  regions were either stable or in decay. CME analysis will be
  conducted as imagery becomes available. Solar activity is expected
  to be low with...

• Up to $25,000 at Stake in New ARRL Student Coding Competition

  Pre-registration is now open for a Student Coding Competition, a new national challenge sponsored by ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio®. The project is designed to engage young radio amateurs in shaping the future of amateur radio through software development. Open to ARRL-member amateur radio operators aged 21 and younger, the competition will invite students to design a mobile a...

• Obsolete Part 97 Rules to be Deleted February 10, 2026

  The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in October 2025 adopted a Report and Order to delete almost 400 obsolete rules pertaining to its wireless services. As previously reported by ARRL, among the deletions were four in Part 97 that govern the Amateur Radio Service.

  ARRL reports that the notice of the Report and Order has now been published in the Federal Register. Unless an objection is ra...

• The ARRL Solar Update

  Solar activity reached high levels this past week when Region 4299
  produced an M1.1 (R1/Minor) flare on December 6. Shortly after, the
  region produced an M8.1/2b (R3/Strong) flare, also on December 6.
  Associated with the M8.1 flare was a 1,100 SFU Tenflare, a 1,143
  km/s Type II sweep and a Type IV sweep. (A "sweep" is a solar radio
  burst that sweeps through the RF spectrum as the energy moves
  outward...

• Help Someone Get Their FIRST Ham Radio License by the End of 2025
• FCC Allocates 60-Meter World-Wide Amateur Band Approved at WRC-15; Continues Amateur Use of Four Additional 60-Meter Channels, and Updates 420 MHz Coordination Information

  The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on December 9, 2025, released a long-awaited Report and Order adopting a new amateur radio spectrum allocation in the 60-meter band that was approved for world-wide use on a secondary basis in the WRC-15 (World Radiocommunication Conference 2015) Final Acts. The Commission also agreed with a petition from ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radi...

• ARRL to Host 2026 HamSCI Workshop at Central Connecticut State University
• The ARRL Solar Update

  Solar activity was at low levels this past week with only C class
  flares. Region 4294 remains the largest region on the disk but is
  appearing to be simplifying magnetically. Region 4296, on the other
  hand, gained a delta region in its intermediary region, though with
  no corresponding increase in flare activity as of yet. New flux
  emerged along the eastern side of Region 4298, resulting in several
  C f...

• Operators/Monitors Wanted for Meteor Scatter QSO Party December 12-13

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